NEW MADISON – The Tri-Village boys basketball team put together impressive back-to-back performances against quality opponents with wins over Plain City Jonathan Alder in the Holiday Hoopla Classic in Columbus and DI Kettering Fairmont at the “Pac” on Saturday 55-19.
The Patriots are currently ranked #1 in D6 boys basketball and played like it against Fairmont as they jumped out to a 19-3 first quarter lead on the Firebirds.
They shot a blistering 73% in the opening quarter but maybe even more eye opening was the defensive performance they turned in.
Tri-Village normally a man-to-man team came out in a 2-3 zone determined to make the Firebirds beat them from the outside and not allow the Greater Western Ohio Athletic Conference scoring leader Jayden McGraw to beat them inside.
Coming into the game McGraw was averaging a double-double with 22.5 ppg and 11 rebounds. But when he caught the ball in the paint he was swarmed and unable to operate to get a shot off.
“Defensively we wanted to make it tough on him to score and when he turned to face the basket he hit a brick wall in Dom Black and then our help defenders double and triple up on him to make it tough for him to score,” Tri-Village coach Josh Sagester stated.
McGraw scored on a three-pointer from the perimeter, and it was the only points the firebirds had in the first quarter.
The Patriots got 12 points from Trey Sagester including back-to-back triples, one a step back three to end the quarter. Brecken Gray and Griffin Richards each had a three and Dom Black added a bucket in the paint for a big 19-3 lead.
The Patriots were locked in on defense working hard and subbed part of the first and second quarter with no drop off in effort with everyone on the same page, and that effort held Fairmont to just four second quarter points.
Offensively Dom Black scored 7 points who benefitted from assists from Finkbine, Richards and Sagester. Richards had 5 points on a drive to the rim, and another three-pointer as TV held a 35-7 halftime lead.
The Patriots shot 60% in the second quarter and 65% in the first half.
Tri-Village continued to pound the paint in the third frame with Black going for another 8 points. A couple more three’s one by Brecken Gray and then a 3/4 court buzzer beater from Sagester to the third quarter with TV up 51-14.
The running clock slowed down the scoring in the final frame with the game already in hand as Tri-Village wrapped up a 55-19 win.
Tri-Village finished the game 23/41 for 56% shooting on 14 assists. They held the Firebirds to 19% shooting and won the boards 23-18. Kettering Fairmont had 13 turnovers to the Patriots 5 in the game.
Trey Sagester and Dom Black led the way on offense with 17 points each and Griffin Richards added 13 for Tri-Village.
After the game coach Sagester talked about the week his team had and was pleased with his entire team’s effort.
“Tonight was a statement win for our program and everyone who played affected the win with contributions across the board,” Sagester explained.
“Not only did we play well here tonight, but we also played well in the Holiday Hoopla Classic in Columbus to get a win against a good Alder team,” Sagester added.
It was a close game for nearly three quarters in that contest with the Patriots holding a one-point lead at the half 26-25. In the third quarter the Patriots match-up zone caused shooting woes for Jonathan Alder as they pushed ahead 45-35.
Tri-Village then went on a 19-2 run in the 4th quarter to put the game and coming away with a 68-44 win against the 29th overall ranked team in the state.
After the game coach Sagester talked about why they have schedule some of the teams they face this year.
“We try to put our kids in positions to be uncomfortable and play different styles of basketball so that when we get into tournament, we can go back and you say, yea, we’ve seen this ‘Hey, we’ve done this before,” Sagester commented.
Four Patriots scored in double figures with Trey Sagester leading the way with 28 points, Noah Finkbine and Griffin Richards each had 11 and Dom Black 10 points in the win.
The Patriots improve to 7-0 overall and will host Cincinnati Christian Tuesday which will be Hall-of-Fame night at the “Pac”.
Box Score
Score by Quarter
Fairmont …. 03 … 04 … 07 … 05 – 19
Tri-Village … 19 … 16 … 16 … 04 – 55
Team Scoring
Fairmont:
K. Ralston 0-0-0/2 – 0, A. Adams 1-1-0/0 – 5, S. Newman 1-1-1/2 – 6, J. McGraw 1-1-2/2 – 7, Totals 3-3-4/7 – 19
Tri-Village:
D. Black 0-7-3/3 -17, T. Sagester 3-4-0/1 -17, G. Richards 1-5-0/0 -13,
N. Finkbine 0-1-0/0 -2, B. Gray 2-0-0/0 -6, Totals 6-17-3/4 – 55
